SEP's

Hi Parents,
SEP's are next week, make sure to watch for a letter from the teacher confirming your time. It's very important to stay up to date with your students progress and it helps the teacher keep you informed if there are any concerns. See you all there!

Carnival

FREE CARNIVAL TICKETS!!! For those of you who are volunteering or who would still like to you will receive a free activity punch card that includes a meal ticket! We still need LOTS of volunteers or it wont work! Contact Sarah at sarah.petty@yahoo.com or Kristy at mkrjgallegos@yahoo.com

Vision Screening

Vision Screening will take place Tues. Oct. 4th for k, 1st, 3rd, & 5th.  We need help making copies to send notes home to parents and with the actual eye screening.  The rescreening will take place on Tues. Oct. 11th.  Both will begin at 9 a.m.  Hopefully be done by 1 p.m. If you would like to help out please contact Kammie at kammiebjones@q.com

Red Ribbon Week

Hi Parents,
This year we are trying to bring back Red Ribbon Week. We have not had it in the past few years because we didnt have the support we needed to make it happen. I feel that it is very important for our kids to have this special program introduced to them. If anyone would like to help me get this going it would be greatly appreciated. It will be the week of October 23rd. If you have any contacts with the D.A.R.E. Program or local authorities that would be very helpful. Or if you just want to help out..that would be great too. You can reach me at my email mkrjgallegos@yahoo.com. Thanks again, Kristy Gallegos (secretary)

What we did last yeare 2010/2011

Family Skate Night
Sponsored class Halloween Parties/Christmas celebrations/Valentine Party
Cleaned teacher’s room or gave them a roll of Bounty paper towels
Vision Screening
Jr. Achievement
Recruited Senior Citizens as reading volunteers
Became an incorporated entity/Bought insurance/Purchased PTO Manager/Updated By-laws/Formed an audit Committee/Had three monthly night meetings/Compiling documentation to become a not-for-profit organization
Dance Program and Zumba Fundraiser
Collected soup labels, box tops, and capri sun pouches
Sponsored Safety Patrol and funded their Field Trip
Field Trip to Tulip Festival for 3rd and 4th Graders
Sponsored Field Trip to Taylorsville Heritage Museum (paid for by Taylorsville City Grant)
Harmon’s Day
Festival of the Arts
Fall and Spring Book Fair (Monies earned from Fall book fair goes to the school library, the Spring book fair allows BOGO).
Two teacher SEP dinners and one bagel morning to introduce pto manager and shirts for teachers
Maturation
Teacher Appreciation
Summer skills books for parents
Field Day
Paid over $1200 for Assemblies
Restocked Emergency Preparedness kits
Decorated and supplied refreshments for Kindergarten and 6th Grade Advancement
Birthday Table and Teacher treat on their birthday
Sold t-shirts, hoodies, and long sleeve Vista Lion shirts. Also purchased different shirts for staff
Sorted Christmas gifts for each child through an anonymous donor

What we will be doing this school year 2011/2012

Updating the Gold Medal Mile Board
Fall Carnival
Sponsor class Halloween Parties/Christmas celebrations/Valentine Party
Birthday Table and Teacher treat on their birthday
Sold t-shirts, hoodies, and long sleeve Vista Lion shirts.
Vision Screening
Jr. Achievement
Recruite Senior Citizens as reading volunteers
Became an incorporated entity/Buy insurance/Continue using PTO Manager/Vote on Updated By-laws/Continue audit Committee/Have three monthly night meetings/Submit documentation to become a not-for-profit organization
Dance Program
Collected soup labels, box tops, and capri sun pouches
Sponsor Safety Patrol and funded their Field Trip
Harmon’s Day
Festival of the Arts
Fall and Spring Book Fair (Monies earned from Fall book fair goes to the school library, the Spring book fair allows BOGO).
Three teacher SEP dinners
Maturation
Teacher Appreciation
Field Day
Red ribbon week

Event Descriptions

Field Day –Pick a day of the last week of school and get approval from school administration. Use previous game station ideas or try some new games. Buy supplies and recruit volunteers to run each station. Set-up on the day of 1 hour early. Ask 6th graders to help you set-up, clean-up, and fill water jugs and pool. Use the siren from the office to announce or rotation stations. Clean-up (ask students to help). Following day, clean popcorn machine. See PTO File under Field Day file or check our Google Documents account for more information.

Maturation-With a parent/guardian, 5th and 6th grade students attend a 1 hour meeting to learn about how their bodies are changing and going to be changing physically. Schedule a date with a female nurse and a male nurse in the evening. Reserve school. Send out flyers, have custodian post on marque, and get a check from PTO Treasurer to pay nurses. A list of approved nurses can be obtained from file or administration. Order hygiene kits for boys and girls, in English and Spanish.

Junior Achievement-A volunteer parent teaches a 4-6 week course with materials provided by Jr. Achievement. Jr. Achievement is a program dedicated to inspiring kids to learn the economics of life through free-enterprise education. Kindergarten begins with coin recognition all the way through 6th grade where students learn about world trade relationships. Committee chairperson needs to contact Jr. Achievement Coordinator to set-up a date to hand out packets and have an orientation meeting for volunteers. Recruit one volunteer from each class. Parents will schedule with their individual teacher when they will be teaching. Keep a list of parent volunteers to send to Jr. Achievement Coordinator.

Harmon’s Day-In January, meet with other schools at Harmon’s to pick a theme. You will be giving guidelines and responsibilities from Harmon’s. Organize decoration ideas for decorating a check-out booth at Harmon’s. Have an art idea, get supplies (Harmon’s gives a small stipend $25-$50), can have teachers have the students make art projects, and coordinate volunteers to send home 3 different reminder flyers (provided by Harmon’s). In February, coordinate volunteers to help decorate and take-down decorations, and coordinate volunteers to man a booth at Harmon’s. We usually have the cookie decorating table. The PTO likes to have a night meeting in January so members can help cut-out or glue any items to our Vista Banner to hand up over the booth in Harmon’s.

Emergency Preparedness-From our approved PTO Budget, can purchase water and suckers to rotate out every few years. Can also purchase Emergency Blankets for each student and teacher. Send home a flyer during registration requesting granola bars to be sent to the school for 1 per student. Add granola bars (and other needed items) to each teacher’s suitcase located in the classroom by October. See PTO File under Emergency Kit file or check our Google Documents account for more information.

Vision Screening- The Chairperson would need to schedule a date with Jane (our school secretary), call the District Vision Specialist, Jackie, and set up times to get the kids checked. PTO has a list of possible rotations from previous years. You would also need to send home a vision note (PTO already has a copy, just add the date). Only the kindergartners, 1st, 3rd, and 5th get checked. You also need a make-up day which would best be on a Friday to get both morning and afternoon kindergartners close together. You could also get a committee together to help with coordinating this. See PTO file under Vision Screening or check the Box in the PTO closet for more information.

T-shirts-Use approved budget to purchase new t-shirts or sweat shirts every other year to sale at PTO events such as Registration, the Book Fairs, or other dates as needed. Make sure to use PTO’s tax exempt number when purchasing shirts. Obtain a purchase order and give to PTO Treasurer. Inventory shirts and store in school closet. Recruit volunteers to help man the booth for sale at PTO events.

Birthday Table-Use funds and/or Campbell soup label points to acknowledge each child’s and teacher’s birthday at our PTO birthday table during the month of their birthday with a small gift. Get a student and teacher count from administrative office, order needed supplies, plan a date and have office get in on their calendar, and man the PTO table on specified date during lunches. Put teacher’s gift in their box or hand deliver. Chairperson can put absent student’s gift with name on it in teacher’s box.

Red Ribbon Week-Provide drug and alcohol awareness through a variety of media. Can order red ribbons using approved PTO budget. Contact local authorities to request a presenter. Schedule needed activities with school administration.
Spring-Fall Book Fair-During SEP’s (Parent Teacher Conferences), schedule a book fair at the same times. Call Book Fair people to ensure a spot. Hang provided posters. Set-up carts in gym, recruit at least 2 volunteers per hour, and get cash from PTO Treasurer. Clean-up last day and count monies with PTO Treasurer.

Welcome Letter

Welcome to Vista’s Parent Teacher Organization (PTO)

Our objectives as a PTO are:

·        to maintain a working relationship between school, parents, and teachers

·        provide child enrichment programs that complement the curriculum

·        enhance the quality of education through volunteer hours and financial support

·        develop a closer connection between school and home by encouraging parent involvement

To maintain a working relationship, we need you as parents to talk to your child’s teacher and find out what you can do to be involved in your child’s class.  Ask your child’s teacher if you can come listen to kids read, make copies, or plan an activity.  You are welcome at school anytime!  Just sign in at the office in the PTO volunteer log and get a bright orange volunteer badge!!!

One enrichment program we as parents teach is a 4-6 week course from Jr. Achievement.  Jr. Achievement is a program dedicated to inspiring kids to learn the economics of life through free-enterprise education.  Kindergarten begins with coin recognition all the way through 6^th grade where they learn about world trade relationships.  Other enrichment programs we support or sponsor are educational assemblies and field trips.

We earn money through fund raisers and participating at Harmon’s Day.  Harmon’s has adopted us as their school.  At Harmon’s Day in February, we earned just over $700 from them donating 5% of all monies people paid when purchasing their groceries.  We also collect Box Tops for Education, Campbell Soup Labels, and Capri Sun pouches to generate funds and gifts for the school.  So save your goodies for your PTO!

We use funds to provide Family Events such as skate night, family picnic, Zumba , and an occasional carnival.  We also use funds to acknowledge each child’s and teacher’s birthday at our PTO birthday table during the month of their birthday with a small gift.  Our Book Fair funds are donated to the school library in the Fall at SEP’s (Parent Teacher Conferences).  We also donated money to kindergarten to purchase graduation caps and gowns for you to snap a photo of them in at their graduation performance!!  Treats for 6^th grade advancement is also included in this area.  New to the funds area is insurance, Incorporation fees, and licensing.

An event your child might be interested in participating in is our Festival of the Arts.  Children can enter in the areas of art, music, dance, literature, and photography.  The last six years, we have Field Day at the end of the year where they participate in outdoor fitness activities.  As a PTO, we decorate the halls and honor our Teacher’s the first week in May.

To meet our final objective, of developing a closer connection between school and home by encouraging parent involvement, we need you!!  The Vista PTO purchased a new program called PTO Manager that allows us to contact parents via email, we have a facebook page (Vistapto), a blog (vistaelementarypto.blogspot.com), and emails so you can contact board members (vistaelementarypto@yahoo.com or vistapto@gmail.com).  We also send home flyers! 

Please know you are an integral part of making Vista’s PTO an enriching part of your child’s education!!                        ~Kammie Jones, Vista PTO President

Back To School

Hi Parents and Teachers, its that time of year....Back To School!!! Im super excited to see what this year will bring. I hope you have all registered your children and started your back to school shopping because school starts on Monday, August 22nd, 2011. First bell rings at 8:35, final bell is 8:40am. Dont be late! Because we dont have air conditioning yet (next year hopefully) most teachers are allowing the kids to bring bottled water to class. We want our kids to stay hydrated and focused.  Also, if you havent already, make sure you sign up for SEP's, your childs teacher will have a list. Our back to school carnival is being held on Friday, September 16th 5:30-7:30pm. You shoulds have recieved a red flier with all the information in your registration packet. We are still looking for volunteers to help out that night.